Alumni Award Winners

We encourage alumni, faculty and staff to nominate deserving alumni for these awards.

The Alumni Volunteer Award

2016 - Eileen Effinger, BA’75

Eileen Effinger, BA’75, is the recipient of the 2016 Vanderbilt Alumni Association Board of Directors Young Alumni Professional Achievement Award.

As a president of the Charlotte Vanderbilt Chapter, Reunion volunteer and Oak Leaf Society member, Eileen Effinger is a loyal supporter of Vanderbilt. Through educational, athletic and networking events she energized alumni and provided a venue for them to promote their businesses in the Charlotte area. Her collaboration with fellow chapter volunteers helped improve outreach in other cities. She spread this enthusiasm to her class and her sorority by encouraging them to attend Reunion, which strengthened their connection to the university.

2015 - John "Buddy" Fisher, BA'50

John “Buddy" Fisher, BA’50, is the recipient of the 2015 Vanderbilt Alumni Association Board of Director’s Alumni Volunteer Award.

Fisher is a longtime supporter of Vanderbilt and, through many roles, has been a dedicated volunteer. He provided valuable leadership while serving on the Alumni Association Board and for many years served as the face of Vanderbilt in his hometown of Columbia, Tennessee, as the president of the Maury County Vanderbilt Club. He has also served as a volunteer for the Commodore Recruitment Programs since 2008. As his class weekend chair, Fisher helped connect his classmates to Vanderbilt and encouraged them to make attending their Reunions a priority. He even took the initiative to plan a 60th Reunion gathering for his class—a first for any volunteer. That commitment extended to his time as Quinq chair, a role he embraced as an opportunity to strengthen the ties between those who graduated half a century ago and their alma mater. View Fisher’s award presentation from the 2015 Alumni Association Awards Ceremony.

2014 - Todd Jackson, BA’96

Todd Jackson, BA’96, EMBA’08, is the 2014 recipient of the Vanderbilt Alumni Association Board of Director’s new Alumni Volunteer Award.

As founders and co-chairs of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Young Ambassadors, Jackson and his wife, EB, have helped raise $250,000 and award seven Discovery Grants to innovative cancer researchers. Those grants have generated an additional $2.4 million in research funding. He also helped increase volunteer and giving participation as president of the Owen Graduate School of Management Alumni Council and served as the fundraising chair for his fifth-year Reunion.